While Marvel and DC characters have dominated both the comic book medium and blockbuster cinema, not every film based on comics follows caped heroes. In fact, an array of critically acclaimed films from a variety of genres are based on graphic novels, some of which helped raise the bar for their medium.
Comic book movieshave experienced a boom over the last two decades, thanks in large part to the unprecedented success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As properties like Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy went from obscurity to the mainstream, studios looked to more stories to captivate audiences. Ranging from pastiches ofbeloved spy thrillersto award-winning dramas, an array of brilliant films have shown thatcomics are more than just capes and cowls.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Cast
Based on the comic book series of the same name, Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of rebellious teen Eggsy (Taron Egerton) as he’s inducted into a top-secret spy agency by a man codenamed Galahad (Colin Firth). After learning that billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) plans to destroy the world, Eggsy and Galahad set out to avert international disaster and uncover widespread corruption that threatens to consume the Kingsman agency itself.
Few comic book creators have made out as well from the boom in movie adaptations as Mark Millar. Best known for his work onKick-Ass, “Old Man Logan” andCivil War, the creator made his mark on the spy genre through his collaboration with Dave Gibbons onSecret Service.In 2014, the story was handed off to director Matthew Vaughn, whose film tells the story of Eggsy, a working-class youth who’s recruited by the titular spy agency.
One of the2010s' best action movies,Kingsman: The Secret Servicegave audiences a high-octane take on James Bond for the 21st century, using the perspective of a blue collar youth in place of the suave 007. From its laugh-out-loud humor to action sequences that putMission: Impossibleto shame, the film earned the love of action and comedy fans alike. From its unique gadgets to mastery of subtle parody, the film is a welcome departure from the tone of old school spy movies towards something more modern.
300
Loosely based on Frank Miller’s comic series of the same name, Zack Snyder’s 300 tells the legend of the historical battle of Thermopylae. It follows King Leonidas of Sparta (Gerard Butler) as he leads a small force of 300 Spartans against the amassed Persian army of 300,000. Meanwhile, his wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) remains in Sparta to negotiate reinforcements against political resistance.
Under Dark Horse comics, Frank Miller mythologized the battle between Leonidas' Spartan warriors and an army of invading Persians in his comic book300. In 2007,director Zack Snyderadapted the five-issue miniseries to the big screen, using his signature love of slow motion to ensure a visually-captivating action movie. Bringing style to Ancient Greece,the film plays on an exaggerated perspective of the conflict,pitting just three hundred soldiers against a million-man army.
“It Was Insane:” Gerard Butler Reveals Actors Were Getting Injured Every Day While Filming Zack Snyder’s $456M Historical Epic Movie
Gerard Butler has starred in many action movies throughout his career, but it seems like this 2006 Zack Snyder movie was the most dangerous.
300plays brilliantly on the last stand tropeand gives audiences one of the best celebrations of machismo ever seen on the big screen. Glorifying the Spartans like no film before it, Snyder’s epic made the typical action film of its day seem amateurish by comparison through its breathtaking battle sequences. Becoming a genuine cultural touchstone of the 2000s, the film perfected the “sword and sandal” sub-genre, with no movie since surpassing it.
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night is a 2007 horror film centering on an Alaskan town that is invaded by a group of violent vampires. Josh Hartnett leads the cast in the David Slade-directed film along with Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, and Mark Rendall.
In 2002, horror comic creators Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith gave then-aspiring publisher IDW Publishing one of its first real hits in30 Days of Night. Using the cover of Alaska’s month-long night to craft a terrifying vampire survival story, the miniseries was picked up by Sam Raimi, who produced it through Columbia Pictures. Having originally been pitched by the creators to be a film, the story naturally made for one of the year’s best horror films.
30 Days of Nightuses the isolation and helplessness of its desolate Arctic settingto deliver the same terror as classic films likeThe Thing. As one of the scariest depictions of vampires in a time when the genre was trending towards fantasy instead of horror, the movie made audiences fear the bloodsuckers the way they should be.
Extraction
Tyler Rake, a fearless black market mercenary, embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he’s enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord in Bangladesh. However, the mission doesn’t go according to plan.
While many comic book adaptations are of well-known mainstream books, some studios have proven an ability to turn the most obscure stories into gold. Few films are as much a testament to this asNetflix’s adaptation ofCiudad, a graphic novel that follows a hardened mercenary on a seemingly impossible rescue mission.The movie cast Chris Hemsworth, hot off his success as the MCU’s Thor, as Tyler Rake, the elite warrior tasked with saving a boy in India.
Extractionbuilt on the success and style of successfulaction movies likeJohn WickandThe Raid, leading viewers on an explosive, nerve-wracking escape. Along with its 2023 sequel, director Sam Hargrave’s treatment of the graphic novel delivered a gritty and stunning action story, one especially tailored to fans of shoot ‘em up video games.
Dredd
Based on the comic character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, Dredd is a sci-fi action movie that stars Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, a law enforcement officer who can commute sentences as quickly as he issues them. Set in a dystopian New York-like city called Mega-City One, Dredd is tasked with hunting down a drug lord who controls a massive 200-story apartment complex named Ma-Ma, pushing a new addictive drug called “Slo-Mo” that has become widely used in the slums.
Since 1977, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s legendary antihero, Judge Dredd, has been one of Britain’s leading comic book properties. After a critically panned 1995 adaptation with Sylvester Stallone in the leading role, Mega-City One’s toughest cop was finally done justice in 2012’s Dredd.Casting Karl Urban as the gritty lawman, the movie follows him and his partner, Anderson, as they contend with a ruthless crime lord and her gang in a sealed-off tower block.
Dreddtook the premise behind the previous year’s breakout action hitThe Raidand brought it to Mega-City One, giving the antihero no choice but to shoot his way to survival. Directed by Pete Travis, the movie’s use of stylish slow-motion shootouts and a darker tone than the ‘95 movie made for one of the decade’s best cult hits. Wherethe Stallone version was an exercise in world-building, this gritty reboot was simply perfect for the character.
Sin City
Based on the original graphic novel by Frank Miller, Sin City is a dark and gritty crime-noir action movie that tells several different stories, all set at the same time in the same city. The lines of good and evil are blurred, with vigilantism being the new norm, as a city rife with corruption slowly swallows its citizens whole. Each protagonist is loosely connected to one another’s stories as the movie paints a bigger picture through each new point of view.
After turning Daredevil and Batman into two of the best heroes in print, comic book legend Frank Miller introduced the world to hisSin Cityuniverse. Beginning in 1991, these comics paid homage to the old days of hard-boiled pulp magazines, focusing on a slew of flawed, but valiant antiheroes in a city marred by violence and corruption. In 2005, Miller himself teamed up with several prominent ’90s directors, such as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, to bring his stories to life.
Exploring the fight of a hardened detective, a vengeful criminal, and a community of sex workers against the mob, Miller’s directorial debut makes for a brilliant thriller anthology. Calling back to the days of film Noir, few movies have offered audiences as direct and faithful an adaptation of original source material asSin City.From Bruce Willis to Mickey Rourke, the entire cast sells viewers on the grimy setting and tough guy heroesfrom beginning to end.
Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film directed by Bong Joon-ho. The narrative takes place aboard a perpetually moving train carrying the last remnants of humanity after a failed climate-change experiment freezes the planet. Chris Evans stars as Curtis, who leads a group of lower-class passengers in a rebellion against the oppressive elite at the front of the train. The film explores themes of class struggle and survival.
Dystopia has been explored in an array of movies and comics, but very few films have been able to match the intensity and fast-paced thrill of 2013’sSnowpiercer. Set aboard a giant, Noah’s Ark-like train carrying the last remnants of humanity through a frozen wasteland, the film uses class revolution to craft a gritty, violent, and disturbing action story. Focusing on Curtis, a champion of the oppressed, the film is one big analogy for class warfare.
Using train cars as a metaphor for the class system,Bong Joon Ho’s thrilling sci-fi movie puts the true horror of extreme inequality on display.Building on the story of the French graphic novelLe Transperceneige,the film stands out as one of the most unique takes on dystopia to date. Wearing its political message on its sleeve, the film is a grim, emotional journey from the bottom of society to the top, one with plenty of twists along the way.
In the history of modern comics, it’s hard to avoid theinfluence of Alan Moore. Best known for his creation ofWatchmenalongside artist Dave Gibbons, he revitalized characters like Swamp Thing, becoming one of the best-selling writers in the medium’s history. However, much of his most renowned work actually stems from his writing outside the superhero genre, withV For Vendettabeing a classic.
10 Dystopian Movies With The Bleakest Futures
Dystopian sci-fi shows Earth in desolate, bleak futures. These movies see the world in terrible states, providing a warning for what could be.
Set in a fascistic dystopian Britain where a vigilante teams up with a prostitute to fight the state,V For Vendettaleads the audience through an explanation of how totalitarian governments build and maintain power. Written for the big screen by the Wachowski sisters fresh from the success ofThe Matrix, the film left audiences captivated by the symbolism of V and his war against tyranny – and it became a hallmark of real-world anti-fascist movements.
A History of Violence
A History of Violence, directed by David Cronenberg, follows a quiet family man whose life changes dramatically after he becomes a local hero following an act of self-defense. As media attention grows, his past comes back to haunt him, revealing hidden truths and impacting his family’s perception of him.
After immortalizing his career through his work onJudge Dredd, John Wagner gave readers a gritty and grounded crime story in his 1997 graphic novelA History of Violence. Exploring the mystery surrounding a small-town hero’s past, the story was then adapted into one of the best crime dramas of the 2000s. Starring Viggo Mortensen in the leading role of Tom Stall, the film keeps viewers in a state of suspense as it forces them to question competing narratives until the final reveal.
A History of Violencebrings an exceptional line-up of stars, from Ed Harris and Maria Bello to Mortensen himself, earning two Oscar nominations for the cast and screenplay. Whether experienced as a crime mystery or family drama, the film’s exploration of its characters helped remind critics that comics can inspire the best of cinema.
Road to Perdition
2002’s Road to Perdition sees Tom Hanks step into the role of Michael Sullivan, a man raised by an Irish Mob boss who betrays him. Directed by Sam Mendes, Sullivan embarks on a journey to get vengeance on the man who wronged him.
When it comes to the crime genre, two things have always been universally popular with audiences: gangsters and revenge. In his graphic novelRoad to Perdition, Max Allan Collins combined the two, exploring the story of a mob enforcer and his son as they seek revenge against the gangster who killed their family. In 2002, director Sam Mendes was joined by a phenomenal cast, which included Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Daniel Craig, in adapting the story.
Road to Perditionmakes for a thrilling and emotional tale of revenge, one surprisingly tender and bittersweet considering its genre. Showcasing an array of ruthless characters, from assassins to the film’s protagonist, the film is among the most underrated gangster pictures of the 21st century.
